Crazy, crazy, crazy. A winning streak for an otherwise talentless team and suddenly we don't want Rudy Gay anymore. This is where comments like "holy crap, we could have had Kobe for Vince!" are born.

It's not the winning streak it's the development of the team. Derozan is 22 showing his best season yet and could potentially be an all star. Is he a Rudy gay talent? No. But Rudy gay is 4 years older. In 4 years will demar be better than Rudy gay is now? I would believe so. With Ross it's that the way he's been playing, you really don't want to trade one of the guys who's been playing the best basketball on your team. He's 21(?) and compliments demar so well. I could very well see him be a 6th man of the year candidate in the future and the way the raps are playing right now with him I wouldn't wanna give him up. Plus I feel Gay wouldn't compliment derozan the same way Ross does. Not saying I don't want Rudy gay. I just don't want to blow up our core wing players to get him. I'm pretty sure anyone can agree if the raps don't have to give up demar Ross or JV go for Rudy gay. But if they do, is he really worth it?
We could end up being better without him in a few years if we don't blow up our core. Pass on the accelerated rebuild. Only way I want him now is if we give up either of the pg's and Bargnani +pieces.

Fields can slide into the SG role with TR backing him up. This is perhaps the only way I can swallow Bargs staying put (only because I don't think he's easy to trade). Gay is an assassin and I can see Memphis going for this deal because of the money and the fact that Calderon (which they can flip) is an expiring contract. I'm into this personally (my opinions of course).

PS> This is also the type of trade BC would pull to save his job (I know it's a bad thing).

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

Another interesting note is Lowry and Gay are still tight, I believe. Makes sense with the age, same team years ago, and relative proximity of home towns (Philly and Baltimore).

Funny you mention this as I was not aware they were friends before, however, since I was at the game today I noticed something. Not sure if any of you actually go to the games that often, but usuually they do a players "top 5" something or other. tonights was Lowrys top 5 favourite people he follows on twitter. Number 2 was Rudy Gay.

don't know what colangelo is going to do now that the consensus is rudy gay is no longer the one player we wish we could have gotten. hope he is reading the board so he knows before he makes the trade.

be our second best all around player immediately. depending on what is needed to send out***please let it only be cash*** because cleveland is landing him if memphis wants assets. we can't compete with their draft picks and hiesley seems like the kind of guy who would love some first round cheap talent.

I think a Calderon/Bargnani trade would be great, but if Memphis asks for Demar, i'll be fine with it.

Gay still embodies what the Raps have been lacking ever since VC left, scoring and clutch play. Imagine if they had Gay on those 5-6 close games that they lost? They probably wouldve won 4 or maybe even all of those games with Gay taking the last shot.

The reason why i'd let Demar go is because of the emergence of Ross. Ross pretty much resembles Demar's first years as Raptor, difference is, Ross has a 3 point shot. And so does Gay. Three point shooting will open the floor for Lowry to penetrate and the bigs to work inside. Imagine Lowry running the break with Ross and Gay on each side. Yikes.

I don't know anything about GantDaily.com. Not sure if the league source is from Zach Lowe's Grantland piece from Friday as this was published at 5:16am on Saturday morning. This is on the site's national sports page at the bottom between "Mannny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez V eyed for September" and "Report: Cycling great Lance Armstrong to publicly admit doping."

It is amazing what you'll find on a Google search of "toronto raptors trade Rudy Gay":

I don't know anything about GantDaily.com. Not sure if the league source is from Zach Lowe's Grantland piece from Friday as this was published at 5:16am on Saturday morning. This is on the site's national sports page at the bottom between "Mannny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez V eyed for September" and "Report: Cycling great Lance Armstrong to publicly admit doping."

If the trade did not include Ross, I think I'd be fine.

That article seems sketchy.

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

Memphis: Udrih back up PG (Bayless is sucking majorly in Memphis this year). Dunleavy starting SF floor spacer (42% 3pt) with visions of 2 year ago playoff run minus Gay. Harris SF of future. Picks. $5M in salary cap space taken off and they are no longer tax payer.

Utah: Starting PG acquired while keeping most valuable trade assets in Millsap and Jefferson. Trade one useless combo forward for another but save $3M doing so. Also free up 2 roster spaces should they trade Jefferson's big contract.

Milwaukee: Build their back court of the future with hometown reunion of Jennings and DeRozan. Anderson makes the numbers work. Williams is a player option of $7.5M next season and becomes their SF. Foye is backup PG to replace Udrih. Selby is a throw in for roster space. Milwaukee still has Ellis (and Sammy D's expiring contract) to pursue other trades or if Ellis opts out, he (and Sammy D) becomes cap space.

Reportedly Milwaukee wants to move Ilyasova. Raps trade Bargnani in a package to get Gasol to Minnesota and receive Derrick Williams, Raps could send him to Milwaukee for Ilyasova. That swap would factor in to the above as well because assuming it was all done at same time it might be reported as one big trade but it would technically be 2 separate trades.

Bigs are set.
Wings are thin but Ilyasova could play some 3.
PG is thin.

Conspicuous by his absence in all of this is #tradeBargnani who I am going to assume has been moved for pieces (backup PG and backup wing).

**for the record, not suggesting this plausible or possible, just having fun on a Saturday night with my wife out and kids in bed**

EDIT: Dammit. I hate it when you take off the blinders and realize that if the Bucks could essentially get Gay for all of their assets, well, why wouldn't they take Gay instead of helping Toronto land him. If the Bucks took him on they'd have 11 players under contract for next season with a payroll of about $67.9M assuming Jennings was resigned for $10M, Ilyasova was kept, and Ellis was not traded while exercising his option. I guess it would all depend on how much money Milwaukee wanted to spend and if they thought they could compete with that team.

EDIT 2: But wait, there is more. Lets assume Bargnani is dealt and Derrick Williams comes back in any package i.e. Raps facilitate a Gasol to Minny deal. Again, don't worry about the players, just look at salary numbers: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=acbm36j Raps would also be able to trade Williams immediately after obtaining as it would be (hypothetically, of course) a 1-for-1 trade to get Ilyasova. Raps would also keep Anderson. So if you were Milwaukee, would you rather go ahead with a Jennings-DeRozan-Williams trio or a Jennings-Ellis-Gay trio? Ellis could leave this summer or next summer as an UFA. Jennings-DD-Williams would be about $25M over the next 2 years while Jennings-Ellis-Gay would be about $39M.... and Williams could very well be a bust.

And to just make it all the more plausible, a separate trade that would be needed to be done under NBA rules but would be reported as all one big trade (ignore the players on Milwakee's side and focus on $7.9M salary which is what Ilyasova makes):

Memphis: Udrih back up PG (Bayless is sucking majorly in Memphis this year). Dunleavy starting SF floor spacer (42% 3pt) with visions of 2 year ago playoff run minus Gay. Harris SF of future. Picks. $5M in salary cap space taken off and they are no longer tax payer.

Utah: Starting PG acquired while keeping most valuable trade assets in Millsap and Jefferson. Trade one useless combo forward for another but save $3M doing so. Also free up 2 roster spaces should they trade Jefferson's big contract.

Milwaukee: Build their back court of the future with hometown reunion of Jennings and DeRozan. Anderson makes the numbers work. Williams is a player option of $7.5M next season and becomes their SF. Foye is backup PG to replace Udrih. Selby is a throw in for roster space. Milwaukee still has Ellis (and Sammy D's expiring contract) to pursue other trades or if Ellis opts out, he (and Sammy D) becomes cap space.

Bigs are set.
Wings are thin but Ilyasova could play some 3.
PG is thin.

Conspicuous by his absence in all of this is #tradeBargnani who I am going to assume has been moved for pieces (backup PG and backup wing).

**for the record, not suggesting this plausible or possible, just having fun on a Saturday night with my wife out and kids in bed**

EDIT: Dammit. I hate it when you take off the blinders and realize that if the Bucks could essentially get Gay for all of their assets, well, why wouldn't they take Gay instead of helping Toronto land him. If the Bucks took him on they'd have 11 players under contract for next season with a payroll of about $67.9M assuming Jennings was resigned for $10M, Ilyasova was kept, and Ellis was not traded while exercising his option. I guess it would all depend on how much money Milwaukee wanted to spend and if they thought they could compete with that team.

EDIT 2: But wait, there is more. Lets assume Bargnani is dealt and Derrick Williams comes back in any package i.e. Raps facilitate a Gasol to Minny deal. Again, don't worry about the players, just look at salary numbers: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=acbm36j Raps would also be able to trade Williams immediately after obtaining as it would be (hypothetically, of course) a 1-for-1 trade to get Ilyasova. Raps would also keep Anderson. So if you were Milwaukee, would you rather go ahead with a Jennings-DeRozan-Williams trio or a Jennings-Ellis-Gay trio? Ellis could leave this summer or next summer as an UFA. Jennings-DD-Williams would be about $25M over the next 2 years while Jennings-Ellis-Gay would be about $39M.... and Williams could very well be a bust.

Why Phoenix?
Beasley isn't the player he was expected to be when they signed him, so they drop his massive contract. They get Bargnani to back up scola and start when scola retires or leaves as a free agent.

Why Memphis?
Key here is cap space. They're deep into the tax and Memphis isn't exactly a big market. They get 10 million dollars off the books from Calderon at the end of the season and get rid of Rudy gays large contract. Hopefully with a change of scenery michael Beasley can perform better or not. First rounder evens it out. Anderson has been playing great and has shown he can 100% be a serviceable backup

EDIT: Dammit. I hate it when you take off the blinders and realize that if the Bucks could essentially get Gay for all of their assets, well, why wouldn't they take Gay instead of helping Toronto land him. If the Bucks took him on they'd have 11 players under contract for next season with a payroll of about $67.9M assuming Jennings was resigned for $10M, Ilyasova was kept, and Ellis was not traded while exercising his option. I guess it would all depend on how much money Milwaukee wanted to spend and if they thought they could compete with that team.

EDIT 2: But wait, there is more. Lets assume Bargnani is dealt and Derrick Williams comes back in any package i.e. Raps facilitate a Gasol to Minny deal. Again, don't worry about the players, just look at salary numbers: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=acbm36j Raps would also be able to trade Williams immediately after obtaining as it would be (hypothetically, of course) a 1-for-1 trade to get Ilyasova. Raps would also keep Anderson. So if you were Milwaukee, would you rather go ahead with a Jennings-DeRozan-Williams trio or a Jennings-Ellis-Gay trio? Ellis could leave this summer or next summer as an UFA. Jennings-DD-Williams would be about $25M over the next 2 years while Jennings-Ellis-Gay would be about $39M.... and Williams could very well be a bust.

Why Phoenix?
Beasley isn't the player he was expected to be when they signed him, so they drop his massive contract. They get Bargnani to back up scola and start when scola retires or leaves as a free agent.

Why Memphis?
Key here is cap space. They're deep into the tax and Memphis isn't exactly a big market. They get 10 million dollars off the books from Calderon at the end of the season and get rid of Rudy gays large contract. Hopefully with a change of scenery michael Beasley can perform better or not. First rounder evens it out. Anderson has been playing great and has shown he can 100% be a serviceable backup

i really don't think the team will trade demar. i also wouldn't want them too. i understand the reasoning behind it but i would rather keep someone who has shown improvement/work ethic and love for the city. i think toronto needs a spokesman for other players. i think that a player suck as demar who came when we sucked and hopefully will be here as we continue to improve sends a message that we are real.

if we send him out i think it only emphasizes that this team is a revolving door for players waiting to get to america. hopefully he isn't included. i would love gay but not at the cost of any of the young players. not for ed/demar/ross/val. anyone and anything else is ok for me. unfortunately we don't even know what draft we have to give up a pick so we can't include one.

i have a question i hope someone can answer. i know we have to have a pick bi-annually, but does it have to be a raptors pick? if we trade/buy the 30th pick in the draft does that count as one of our picks in 2 seperate years?

i really don't think the team will trade demar. i also wouldn't want them too. i understand the reasoning behind it but i would rather keep someone who has shown improvement/work ethic and love for the city. i think toronto needs a spokesman for other players. i think that a player suck as demar who came when we sucked and hopefully will be here as we continue to improve sends a message that we are real.

if we send him out i think it only emphasizes that this team is a revolving door for players waiting to get to america. hopefully he isn't included. i would love gay but not at the cost of any of the young players. not for ed/demar/ross/val. anyone and anything else is ok for me. unfortunately we don't even know what draft we have to give up a pick so we can't include one.

i have a question i hope someone can answer. i know we have to have a pick bi-annually, but does it have to be a raptors pick? if we trade/buy the 30th pick in the draft does that count as one of our picks in 2 seperate years?

and you don't think obtaining Rudy Gay would get rid of the notion we can't get big name players?

and you don't think obtaining Rudy Gay would get rid of the notion we can't get big name players?

gay comes and plays for 3 or 4 years and leaves. not a guarentee but follows a pattern. i think acquiring gay is a good idea but not at the expense of a hard worker/younger/cheaper/signed longer and has let it be known he enjoys it here. i would rather reward demar then roll the dice gay stays after this contract or we trade our youth for a 3 year window before val becomes a restricted free agent and we are forced to max deal him.

if gay comes in i dont want the young guys going out. that is why i think cleveland gets him with their picks because i doubt they want to give up their young guys as well.